By Richard | April 2, 2012 | St. Barth, French West Indies | 0
In Friday’s preview of the four-race Voiles de St. Barth, which begins tomorrow and will run through Saturday, we incorrectly reported that one of the entries would be Rambler 100, which participated last year — and then late in the summer flipped off Fastnet Rock during England’s Fastnet Race. Alas, as we should have expected, Rambler 100 is now the center of a big dispute between the insurance company, the owner and the charterer for the Fastnet Race. All naturally want as much of the insurance money as possible, but most of it will probably go to the various lawyers. It’s unclear whether 100 will ever sail again.
Anyway, the same charterer, George David, is back for the Voiles this year, but with the still-fast-but-much-less-radical R/P 90 Rambler 90. We’re still waiting for a final entry list, but it appears there will be over 60 boats in the Volies, between 30 and 118 feet. Unlike the recently concluded St. Barth Bucket, the Voiles is a much more competitive event, so while there aren’t as many men around the island this week, there is nonetheless a much higher concentration of testosterone. For an idea of what the sailing fun will look like, and why you should maybe charter a Beneteau from St. Martin to do it next year, check out the video of the day at
Beware of the water! Lots of diners in St. Barth are shocked when they get their bills for lunch or dinner. Because if you say yes, you’d like some water, at a place like Nikki Beach they bring you water in a really fancy bottle — then charge you about $25 for it. In the tropics, it’s easy for a group of four to drink two or three bottles, which knocks the bill up by $50 to $75. Ouch! And sometimes it seems like they must use Nikki Beach water to do the laundry on the island, because it usually costs $30 a load, and that doesn’t include machine drying.
One guy who would never pay $25 for a bottle of water is artist/musician/circumnavigator David Wegman of the homebuilt Cowhorn 32 schooner Afrigan Queen, who has been part of the St. Barth scene for more than 30 years. On Sundays, when all of St. Barth shuts down, Wegman takes his battered and patched-together old schooner over to Columbie, and invites one and all to an ‘old St. Barth’ afternoon of wine, food and fun. The following photos tell the story best.
If Afrigan Queen looks to be a bit of a mess, it’s because she’s actually a gigantic mess. Nonetheless, some of the crew from Jim Clark’s pristine 292-ft Athena passed by and said they “loved” the little schooner, which, it must be noted, saw Wegman through an eight-year circumnavigation.
Wegman the Irrepressible in the midst of romancing his latest age-inappropriate-in-the-U.S. love interest. “My daughter is an architecture major at U.C. Berkeley,” he laughed, “and I want you to tell her I’m getting married again.” So smitten was Wegman at the moment that he refused to be stirred by the news Afrigan Queen was aground. “It’s nothing to be concerned about,” he said dismissively. In the end, it wasn’t.
Pity Owen Dibiaso, all of eight years old, as another St. Barth season is over for him. While dad Scotty remains in the Caribbean as captain of the 65-ft schooner Juno for a few more months, mom Lila takes Owen and younger brother Ethan – the duo are the notorious Bunzini Brothers – back to Martha’s Vineyard until next winter. “It’s high time they get a little more structure in their lives,” Lila says with a weary sigh.
Thanks to a well-coordinated effort by several US Coast Guard resources, two injured crew were safely transported Sunday from the Clipper Round the World Race vessel Geraldton Western Australia to the cutter Bertholf.
